Peter Fox TV Discussion of Abuse Case Distressed Victim, Inquiry Told

By Dan Box
The Australian
June 25, 2013

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/peter-fox-tv-discussion-of-abuse-case-distressed-victim-inquiry-told/story-e6frg6nf-1226669523556

A VICTIM of child abuse by a Catholic priest was upset that a NSW detective publicly discussed her case on television without her consent, an inquiry has heard.

In an interview on the ABC's Lateline program last year, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox publicly claimed he was "ordered to stand down" from the investigation of pedophile priest Denis McAlinden.

During the TV interview, he described taking a witness statement from one of the priest's un-named victims, who had come forward and whose evidence he described as "explosive".

Giving evidence today to the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry, established to investigate Detective Fox's claims, the Newcastle Herald reporter Joanne McCarthy said she had subsequently spoken to the victim, who was upset about the interview.

"Initially she wasn't upset at all ... the distress she relayed didn't occur until February or March this year," Ms McCarthy said.

Ms McCarthy also said she believed Detective Fox should not have presented his allegations that child abuse was covered up within the church as being an internal police matter.

Having been sent a transcript from the program before it went to air, "I thought 'Oh my God, what's this?'... my concerns were this shouldn't be about Peter Fox and the police," Ms McCarthy told the inquiry.

"I just thought, 'Oh no, please don't make it an internal police thing at this point.'"